Chairman Issa and Ranking Member Cummings, I appreciate you holding today’s hearing to further examine how the Internal Revenue Service has been implementing provisions of the Affordable Care Act. One of our chief responsibilities on this committee is to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being utilized both efficiently and in accordance with the law. Unfortunately, it is has become undeniably evident that the Affordable Care Act falls short on both of these principles. Just last week, this Committee held a hearing on a new Health and Human Services “demonstration” project that the Obama administration is paying for by cutting 8 billion dollars from Medicare Advantage. These are funds that would normally be used for patient care. Two members from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office stated that this “demonstration project was unprecedented, flawed from its inception and will ultimately demonstrate nothing”. Further, there was strong evidence to suggest that the sole purpose of this project was nothing more than an attempt by the administration to hide new costs that Obamacare imposes on seniors until after the election. I fail to see how this is an efficient use of taxpayer dollars. These are the sort of examples that we’ve come to expect from this haphazardly passed bill authored by individuals who told the American people that they would have to pass it in order to for us to find out what is in it. Well today I want to focus on what is not in it. We have now …

Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Jeff Miller (FL-01) speaks on the House floor in support of the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 (HR 1627). This bill is a comprehensive, bipartisan, bicameral legislative package to provide for the needs of veterans, their families, and survivors through improved healthcare, housing, education, and memorial services. Designed to meet the challenges veterans face today, HR 1627 also expands the accountability and transparency of the Department of Veterans Affairs, ensuring VA is responsible to those it serves—America’s veterans. For more information on this legislation, visit: veterans.house.govVideo Rating: 0 / 5

The Supreme Courts decision today allowed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to remain in place. MVP has been prepared for this decision. All along the company has complied with the ACA and is actively moving forward with the next steps in the health care reform process, including preparing to sell individual market policies through the state health insurance exchanges in 2014.

The Courts decision on the Medicaid expansion in general will not have an effect in the markets MVP servesNew Hampshire, New York and Vermontwhich currently maintain Medicaid eligibility for the most part at thresholds that meet the ACA requirements.

Now that the ACA has been upheld by the Court, it is time to continue the work of reforming the health care system. This includes addressing Americas real health care problem by introducing legislation to reduce the unsustainable increases in the cost of health care services and products, said David Oliker, MVPs President and CEO. Some of the most promising ways to control costs are to incentivize providers for delivering quality outcomes in a cost efficient way, to promote the use of evidence-based medicine, and to encourage the meaningful use of Health Information Technology/Electronic Medical Records and e-prescribing.

MVP supports many of the goals of the ACA, such as making sure all Americans have meaningful, affordable health coverage and access to high-quality health care. However, MVP has told policymakers throughout the process that there are parts of the ACA that will not work as designed.